


And Our Light Shall Never Fade

by Texeoghea



Category: The Transformers (IDW Generation One), Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe, Answer: Everyone. Everyone Is, Canon Continuation, Comedy, Decepticon Friendship Division, Do Not Read If You Haven't Finished The Comics, I will add more characters and ships as they come to me, Multi, Mystery, Shattered Glass, Thats it. that's whats happening, Who's Afraid Of The Pastel DJD?, alternate title for this fic is Transformers: Into The Cyberverse, because they literally are in one yeah, shattered glass universe, we've got it all
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-23
Updated: 2020-05-01
Packaged: 2021-02-26 16:20:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 11,259
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21921148
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Texeoghea/pseuds/Texeoghea
Summary: The events of Lost Light have concluded, with our fateful heroes and heroines in another universe, free of worries, debts, and public trials... they have a whole universe, every universe, at their fingertips. Will you join them for their newest quest?If so, read on...
Relationships: ARE THERE MORE? THERE MIGHT BE, Anode/Lug, Brainstorm/Perceptor, Chromedome/Rewind, Cyclonus/Tailgate, Drift/Ratchet, God. all of the canon ones
Comments: 39
Kudos: 101





	1. In Another Universe, Far, Far Away... [Prologue]

**Author's Note:**

> first chapter is just me recapping the last four pages of the lost light, so everyone reading this remembers how they felt and where they were and all that. expect more plot in the future, the new quest has only begun!

“Rodimus- before you go…”

Rodimus stopped and turned, glancing back at Drift. Rodimus wasn’t a specialist on auras, but lately, everyone seemed to be feeling darker. “...Do you think it worked? I know it was _years_ ago, and I know Nautica said it was a _long shot_ , but… I’ve been thinking about it a _lot_ now that Ratty’s gone.” Rodimus pinched the bridge of his nose. “We agreed never to talk about it,” he sighed. “Please,” Drift answered. “For me.”

“...I dunno, Drift. I dunno if it worked or not. I don’t think we’ll ever know.” He looked up, locking optics with his best friend, who looked so much older than he should have. “And… I think that’s good. Because it means we can keep telling ourselves it _did._ ”

_Somewhere else… sometime else…_

“So, what do we think the new universe will be _like_?” Misfire grinned. “Too soon to say,” Drift responded. “It could be virtually identical to ours, or it could be fantastically different.” Chromedome leaned on the back of Rodimus’ seat. “Happy to settle for fantastic.”

“The fun is finding out,” Rodimus added with his signature smirk. “Crankcase? Set a course for _hijinks and mild peril!”_ Swerve sighed happily. “That’s the best order that’s ever been given.” Magnus leaned forwards. “How long will it take us?” Rodimus looked up. “What, to explore the _entire universe_?” He asked, wide-eyed. Magnus gave him a Magnus-smile, which was more of a pleased grimace. “I will accept an estimate.” Rodimus stifled a laugh and pretended to think about it seriously. “Well, if I had to _guess…_ taking account of all known variables and allowing for every possible outcome… if I had to guess, I’d say it’ll take us more or less… _forever._ ” He turned to Megatron with a smile. “What do you think, co-captain?” Megatron looked to him, surprised. “What do I think?” Rodimus nodded. “Yeah.” Megatron sat back and looked out the front window, at the stars, the expanse of nothing and everything, new and old, all waiting to be seen on a quest that would never end.

“I think forever sounds about right.”


	2. R is for ████- Part 1- I Don't Know What To Say

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Lost Light is only a few hours into their new quest when Rodimus sees something strange on a datapad. Is it a vision of the future, or can he really just not understand math? It might be a little bit of both...

“Why are you guys talking like this is the _end_ of something?” Misfire howled. “This is just a beginning! Imagine! You all went on a quest that never really went anywhere until the very end, and even then, it sucked, right?” There were reluctant murmurs of agreement from those who were present at the time. “Now you’ve got new crew, a whole new universe to explore, no time stop!” He seemed too giddy to continue. Brainstorm nodded. “Yeah, he’s right. We can literally go wherever and do whatever we want. Why be melancholy about it all? Let’s party!” Cheers rippled through the crew. “Who’s up for raiding Swerve’s before he gets there?” Whirl cried. A louder cheer ran through half of the crew, who stumbled over each other to make it out of the deck. “ _Oi!”_ Swerve screeched, transforming and tearing off the deck in hopes to beat the crowd. After a short stampede in which 90% of the bots onboard ran out of the room, the few who were left stood in silence for a moment, then burst into laughter. “I’m glad the melancholy has left everyone’s systems,” Drift smiled. “I’m not. If they drink themselves into some kind of new-universe alcoholic coma, I’ll throw them out the airlock,” Ratchet grumbled. Drift just smiled wider. “What do you think we’ll find, Cyclonus?” Tailgate hopped in place in his excitement. Cyclonus tilted his head. “Adventure,” he answered. “Cheers to that!” Rodimus replied.

It was only a few cycles before the team found their first adventure. The short bout of relaxation was welcome, after all that had happened at the end of their first quest (Swerve had already removed the Knight Quest from the top of his Best Quests, ranking it second, and in the first slot, written “Foreverquest”- It sounded right, though he couldn’t really remember if it meant something else), but right as a few crew members were beginning to get antsy… 

“Hey, can I see that report?” Rodimus asked. Megatron stared blankly at him. “Can you say that again, about twice as loud, so everyone can hear it?” Rodimus narrowed his optics and held out a servo. Megatron regarded him for a moment, then they both cracked a grin as he handed it over. “What’s brought about the sudden interest in paperwork?” He asked. “Nothing, really,” Rodimus said. “I just…” He trailed off. “What is it?” Megatron asked, leaning over him to look at the datapad. Rodimus scrambled away and out of his chair, displeased by their height difference even sitting down. “Right there,” he said, pointing to the datapad. “Don’t you see that?”

“I see the status results of the quantum engine check,” Megatron said dryly. Rodimus narrowed his optics and turned the datapad back around, then blinked. “W- there was something there!” He said. “I am not crazy. The datapad had a totally different reading.”

“Okay,” Megatron said slowly, “so what _did_ it say?” Rodimus opened his mouth, then looked down, uncertain. “It didn’t _say_ anything, there was… I don’t remember. It was important.” Those who had remained on the deck glanced at each other. Looks like their quest had officially started. “Better call Brainstorm and Perceptor,” Rodimus muttered. “If anyone can figure this out, it’s them…”

Brainstorm answered the comm almost immediately. “Do we have a new mission?” He asked, ecstatic at the possibility. Perceptor leaned over, trying to listen in. “Of a sort,” Rodimus answered. “I need you to take a look at a datapad for me.” Brainstorm whined in disappointment. “I thought I saw something on it, but nobody else did, and when I looked again, it were gone… and now I can’t remember what it looked like. But I think, whatever it was, it was important.” Brainstorm sat up from where he had collapsed to the lab floor. “Okay, you’ve recaptured my interest,” he said. “He hasn’t captured mine. What are we doing?” Perceptor protested. Brainstorm hopped up to his peds, momentarily disconnecting from Rodimus to respond. “Looking for ghosts in a datapad.”

“Sounds about right,” Perceptor shrugged. Brainstorm clicked his comm back on. “We’ll swing by to pick it up now, Co-Cap.” 

“Cool. Don’t call me that again. Or at least come up with a better version of it.”

“Yes, sir.”

On their way to the deck, they passed that anomalous room that nobody could remember the use for, with the desk and model ships. Their treads rang eerily in the empty corridor. Nobody knew why the room was there, but nobody could bring themselves to disturb it. “What do you think happened to the datapad?” Brainstorm asked. Perceptor hummed. “Perhaps it detected a distant frequency for a moment, or a transmission that was pulled through from our old universe to this one?”

“Well, if that was the case, why would it have taken so long to show up, and only on one datapad?” Brainstorm pondered. “We’ll know more when we can study it,” Perceptor replied. Brainstorm shrugged.

Rodimus was quick to give it away once they arrived at the deck. Something was itching at him about the whole thing, that kind of quest-itch, that itch that said something important was about to happen that would send them on a year-long twist-and-turn adventure that would only make sense if someone started at the very beginning and had a wiki open at the same time. 

It was a very specific feeling. 

“Tell me what you find,” Rodimus chirped. Brainstorm gave him a mock salute as the simpatico duo ran off to study the mystery datapad. Talk of what it could have said quickly swept through the ship, mostly thanks to someone being on deck at the time, and then telling Swerve, who told everyone else, in increasingly crazy made-up ways. Soon, half the ship thought Rodimus had gotten a crazy vision from Primus himself because he looked at math for a second, which wasn’t _incredibly_ unlikely, considering where they were and what they had overcome as a group of individuals in the past year or so... but was still definitely (probably... maybe...) not the truth. Rodimus, as usual, did nothing to either confirm or deny these rumors, as the end result was a story far too entertaining to ruin.

“While they’re on that, run a scan for any nearby energon deposits,” Rodimus said. “This is a great plan, but if this universe doesn’t have naturally occurring energon, we could be in big trouble.” Crankcase nodded, doing something with a panel that Rodimus didn’t bother to watch. “How are we doing energy-wise, Nautica?” Rodimus asked over the commlink. “We refueled before we left,” came the reply. “The jump took about 20% of our fuel, but we should still have enough to last a week or two until we find more. None of our crew reserves were impacted, so everything is in the clear.”

“Good to hear,” Rodimus said. “Report once the fuel gets to 50%.”

“Will do,” Nautica said. Cutting off the line, Rodimus leaned back in his seat. “What are you thinking about, co-captain?” Megatron said, knowing that Rodimus’ processor never stopped (even if what he was thinking was rarely a good idea). “Not sure yet,” Rodimus replied. “There’s a plan formulating in my mind. I’ve just gotta let it congeal by itself.” Megatron shook his head. “That’s a disgusting way of describing your slow thought process.” Rodimus shrugged, grinning. “Hey, it’s worked out so far, hasn’t it? We’re here, free of worry, and free to hang out and fly around the universe to explore forever.” 

“True.”

Still, Rodimus couldn't help his growing unease.

A few cycles later, and his shift was over. Megatron waved him off the deck. “If anything interesting happens, you’ll be the first person I tell,” he assured. Rodimus sighed and stretched as he walked back to his suite. “First nap in a new universe,” he mused, unlocking the door and stepping in. He didn’t bother to turn the lights on, instead flopping down onto the recharge berth and offlining his optics, pondering again the vision he’d had with the datapad. Whatever he saw seemed to be avoiding direct thought. Whenever he let himself drift to other things, he could just barely feel the thing coming together, but whenever he thought about it again, it vanished, and it was beginning to annoy him. Deciding that recharging on it might help, he resolved to not think about it more, instead letting his mind wander away as his systems wound down to rest. It seemed to help- he dreamed of… something. Ships, and orange-white-blue _something._ A voice he knew, he could remember, but couldn’t put a name to. His recharge was fitful, cycling between wanting desperately to know what was alluding him and trying desperately to ignore it. Rodimus was _not_ a patient mech, and even asleep, he loathed the idea of having to wait for answers.

He didn’t have any warning before he realized what was happening- matrix-induced visions occurring even after holding a matrix wasn’t unheard of, but all Primes said the same thing about them; they’re hell when in recharge. With the mystery voice came others, Optimus, Nova, even, all talking simultaneously, as colors and sound swirled in his mind, mixing together into an incoherent mess, and he couldn’t understand _anything_ they were saying. Was this Primus getting back at him for Mederi? That hadn’t been the real Guiding Hand, but Rodimus had somewhat thought it was, and if Primus really was omnipresent, he must have still seen Rodimus sassing fake-Primus, and damn was he too tired for this. He tried to mumble his discontent with the situation, but found himself unable to move. The voices began to speak louder. _I can’t understand you,_ he wanted to shout as they came to a deafening crescendo. _I don’t know what you’re trying to say._ As soon as he had that thought, it stopped. The voices, the colors, all of it. He was left in total darkness… but only for a moment.

“ _Remember,_ ” a voice hissed into his audial, and he could feel vents drafting air over his helm. His optics onlined with a flash, and he shot upwards, overcorrected, and fell off of his berth. The rest of the vision had been dream-like, but that voice had sounded real, like it had been right next to his body. He looked around frantically, but there was nobody there.

He was alone.

A brief check to his internal chronometer told him that though it felt like it had only been a few kliks, he'd been in recharge for five cycles. Damn.

“Brainstorm?” He asked shakily into his comm. “Status update on the datapad.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So glad this fic is already getting a bit of hype! I'm always a bit bad at starting off, but hopefully once this kicks off I'll get a groove going. Let me know how you feel in the comments!


	3. The Breaking Of Glass- Part 1- Snap, Crackle, Boom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rodimus struggles to make sense of his visions, but destiny has other plans. Surprises hide around any corner, and our heroes just can't seem to catch a break...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy new year! Here's your gift!

“We ran every test Percy could think of, and some that I made up on the spot,” Brainstorm said apologetically as he gave the datapad back to Rodimus. “There just wasn’t anything there. The only thing we could find was the data saved on it. No trace of anything else being added or removed.” He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. “Sorry, Rodimus. It’s not that we don’t believe you…”

“It’s just that it’s scientifically improbable that you actually saw anything there,” Perceptor finished. Brainstorm elbowed him. “Not helping,” he scolded. Perceptor shrugged. “I didn’t say _impossible._ ”

Rodimus sighed. “Alright, thanks anyways. Maybe all the stress from the multiple things that happened to us is finally catching up to me…” It didn’t seem right, especially considering his dream-vision, but after this, there was no way he was going to tell anyone about that unprompted. 

The orange-white-blue swirls still haunted his processor, the voices whispering to him as he paced the bridge. His crew watched him with worried expressions- well, the ones capable of such did- but he paid them no mind. He’d solved mysteries before, he could solve this one. Who had he heard? Who could be trying to get him to remember them? Optimus? Bumblebee? _Starscream?_ None of his solutions made sense. He wished he could remember whoever it was, for his own sake if not theirs. 

Finally, Megatron spoke. “Rodimus, you’re going to wear a groove into the floor. Sit down, please.” Rodimus huffed and flopped into his co-Captain’s chair with a growl. “Relax,” Megatron said gently. “Whatever’s happening, it will work itself out.” Rodimus sank further into his chair, glowering out the front window. “I guess.” It didn’t help that he hadn’t gotten any rest at all. His processor kept going back to the dream, the colors and voices. They had come in a specific sequence, but he just couldn’t figure out why. 

It was really starting to get on his nerves.

“What’s the status on the energon sweep, Crankcase?” Rodimus called. “Still looking, Cap,” Crankcase responded. “None of the closest planets have any detectable veins, but we’re still moving steadily. We’ll find some soon, I reckon.”

“Psh, ‘I Reckon’, who says that?” Rodimus grumbled under his breath, then spoke louder. “Thanks, Crankcase.” Megatron gave him a knowing look, but said nothing.

Cycles passed as such. Rodimus would recharge and have the same dream, getting no rest, and reporting for duty the next shift exhausted and grumpy. Soon enough, Ratchet dragged him to the medbay for a checkup. “You need recharge _last_ _week_ , kid,” he scoffed. Rodimus frowned. “Yeah, tell me something I don’t kn- _ow!_ Ratchet, rude,” he whined when Ratchet yanked on one of his finials too hard. “I know I need to recharge, but it’s hard when every time I do, I get this stupid dream that makes me feel like I raced Blurr across five planets and lost.” 

Ratchet gave him a look. “Dream?” 

_Ah, frag._

“Yeah, uh,” Rodimus said, internally calculating his chances of a successful escape from this conversation if he screamed at the top of his lungs and ran at a dead sprint down the corridor to his suite. “I keep having this dream, and I… don’t call me crazy or do that thing you do. But I think it’s the matrix.”

“The matrix you don’t have,” Ratchet said drly. “The-”

“See! You’re doing it! That _thing!_ The ‘I-Don’t-Believe-You’ thing!” Rodimus cried, pointing at Ratchet, who swatted his hand away. “If you wanna talk _prophecies_ , call Drift. As your doctor, I say get some rest, and dreams be damned,” Ratchet sniffed with finalty. “Now get out of my medbay.” 

Rodimus grumbled as he stood, which earned him a wack over the helm. He scurried away before further incurring Ratchet’s wrath, fear briefly overcoming his sleep-deprived frustration. 

Talking to Drift was a good idea- if anyone would listen, it was him. He sent a quick message- :: _Meet me in the training room in ten?_ :: and was answered almost immediately.

:: _Of course. See you there!_ :: 

Rodimus grinned. That’s why he liked Drift. When it came down to it, he was just a good friend. No questions, ready to go with whatever awful scheme Rodimus had cooked up and would wait until afterwards for any critique.

A few kliks later, and Rodimus and Drift were seated on a training mat, facing each other. Drift had a peaceful smile on his face as he crossed his legs, tilting his head and gesturing for Rodimus to speak. “Okay, so, I- where do I start…” He ex-vented heavily. “I haven’t been recharging well for a few days- ever since we got here, actually. I’ve been having this dream, the same dream every time.” Drift’s optics glowed a little brighter, and he leaned forwards, curious. 

“There’s these voices, right, and they sound like people I know- one of them is Optimus- I think they’re the Primes. They’re all talking at the same time, and I can’t understand what they’re saying… it starts out quiet, but it gets louder and louder as it goes on, and then they all go silent and one voice, this voice that I _know_ , but I can’t remember who it is, Drift! It says ‘remember’, right in my audial. And then I wake up.” 

Drift was nodding thoughtfully, and had placed a comforting servo on Rodimus’ shoulder. “Is it just voices?” He asked gently. Rodimus shook his helm. “The only things I can see are these colors, swirling around, orange, white, and blue, and ships…”

“Did you recognize any of it?” Drift asked. “I can’t explain it, but yes,” Rodimus replied. “It was all so familiar, but I just can’t remember why.” Drift considered this for a moment, then pulled Rodimus in for a hug. “If it truly is a message, then you will know its meaning when the time comes.” 

Rodimus opened his mouth to respond, but his pinging comm interrupted him. “Rodimus!” Megatron barked, loud and urgent enough that Drift heard it as well, causing them both to exchange a look. “Get back to the bridge now! We have company!”

“Never a dull moment, huh?” Drift asked, standing and holding out a servo. Rodimus took it, and Drift pulled him to his peds. Rodimus grinned, though worry gnawed at his tanks. “On my ship? Frag no.”

Bursting onto the deck of the _Lost Light_ , Rodimus readied himself to begin shouting commands, only to fall short at the sight out the window. Every bot there turned to him, wanting orders, but he had none to give.

“That’s…” he started, but trailed off. Drift was equally wordless next to him, optics wide with shock. Megatron nodded solemnly, turning to face them. “It’s a Decepticon warship. And it’s readying its canons.”

“Well,” Rodimus said after a moment, “Fuck!”

“Eloquently said,” Crankcase shouted. “Now, how about some orders?” Rodimus shook himself out of his shock and sprinted forwards to the captain chairs. “Get the hell out of their way!” He cried. Crankcase pulled the _Lost Light_ up sharply, narrowly avoiding a high-powered beam, throwing everyone off balance. Rodimus gripped tightly to his chair. “Do we have anything we can use to fight back?”

“Against one of those things? No way,” Misfire scoffed from a control panel to his left. “I thought those were all taken out of commission,” Drift said, scrambling up from the floor. “In our universe, perhaps,” Megatron muttered. “But here…”

“Here, maybe the war never ended,” Rodimus finished. “And maybe you, this you,” he gestured to the ship before them. “Is still going strong.” Megatron growled angrily. “I cannot tolerate this.” 

“What do you plan on doing? Landing on top of it and storming the thing?” Crankcase scoffed, diving the ship down and curving away from the destroyer. Megatron shook his head, steading his large frame with some difficulty, but still fairing better than most of the crew at the ship's newfound acrobatics. “We have nowhere near the firepower necessary to take on a warship. Do we have a clear jump path away?” Crankcase shook his head. “Nowhere that they couldn’t follow,” he responded, a tinge of panic rising into his voice as he spun the ship hard to avoid yet another blast. “What the frag is going on up here?” Brainstorm cried, bursting through the doors just in time to be thrown into the ceiling. Nautica and Velocity were right behind him, grabbing the door frame to keep themselves steady. “Hey guys!” Rodimus called, trying to sound calm. “Where’s the rest of the squad? We could use all hands on deck h- _look out!”_ Another charge shot straight through one of the wings. “Scrap,” Misfire yelped as alarms began to blare, the deck lights flashing red. “Damage report,” Rodimus and Megatron said instantaneously. “Clean shot. No crew lost. Sealing breach now.”

“Get us the _hell out of here_ , Crankcase!” Rodimus shouted. “If I jump, they could follow us, and there’s no guarantee that the layout of the planets and stars in this universe are the same as ours-”

“ _Now!”_

“Your funeral,” Crankcase scoffed, flipping the quantum engines online. “Brace for hyperjump. Jumping in three, two-” 

An explosion interrupted his countdown, a flash of white light blinding everyone on the bridge. Rodimus’ last thought before whiting out was exhausted, but unsurprised.

  
_Engine failure again? Can't Primus have an original idea for once?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the title for this arc is a placeholder until i can think of a better one. for those of you who don't like Megatron, sorry, he might have a pretty big appearance in this one- his arc in the comics didn't feel like it had a good ending to me, so i want to try and give him a worthier one. and i've got pretty big plans... :3c
> 
> EDIT: Hey! If you're rereading this for any reason, you may have noticed the arc title got changed. Got a guess for where we're going? Feel free to theorize in the comments, or talk with me directly on tumblr!


	4. The Breaking of Glass- Part 2- Pink Isn't Your Color

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And into the cyber-verse we dive...

Rodimus groaned as his systems booted up.  
  
“What the slag,” he muttered. A self-diagnostics report gave no evidence of major damage to his frame or internals, but for some reason, he couldn’t see. He reset his optics a few times, to no avail, then realized something.

“Spinister, get _off_ of me,” he growled, shoving Spinister’s arm off his face and struggling to wiggle away. A quick glance around the dimly lit deck didn’t show anything important broken, besides the doors to the deck, which seemed stuck half-closed… but it was hard to tell, since everyone had collapsed onto the nearest surface- with some on top of each other, like Rodimus’ current situation. Ultra Magnus, luckily, had not crushed anyone.

“ _Ugh!”_ Rodimus grunted as he fought to free himself. “Primus, you’re heavy. Is anyone else up?” he called. 

A few groans rang from around the room. “Present,” Magnus grunted, struggling to stand. A pile of bots shifted, and Megatron sat up from where Nautica, Velocity and Brainstorm had fallen onto him. “What happened?” he asked, blinking. 

“I think the quantum engines exploded again,” Rodimus answered, with a roll of his eyes. “Because _of course_ they did.” He turned to the nav panel. “Crankcase? Misfire? You still online over there?”

There was no response.

“This is why safety straps were installed in the seats,” Magnus muttered.

Rodimus rolled his eyes. “Okay. We need to see if anyone’s been hurt, find whoever else is awake, and check for damage to the ship.” 

“You seem awfully prepared for this,” Megatron noted, carefully standing and moving around the bots on the floor to lift Spinister off of Rodimus’ legs, resting him gently against the nearest console.

“Thanks. And yeah, well.” Rodimus dusted himself off as he stood. “The quantum engines exploding was the first adventure my crew had. I’m going to call Ratchet and First Aid, see if they’re alright. The _last_ thing we need right now is our medics down for the count.”

Megatron nodded, moving to Ultra Magnus next, hefting the larger mech to his peds. “I shall check the engines, and bring back anyone I encounter.”

Rodimus gave a distracted thumbs up as he paced across a small patch of clear floor. “Cool. Teamwork. Love it.” Megatron nodded to him, then left the bridge, prying the broken doors open with ease.

Clicking through frequencies, Rodimus first attempted to call Ratchet, then First Aid, then, after a moment of thought, Swerve, wondering how many members of his crew had been in the bar during the explosion. He got no response from all three.

Rodimus sighed and pulled up the ship-wide frequency, sending a quick, urgent message. 

_::Rodimus here. Anybody who’s awake, report to the bridge for an emergency meeting. Bring others if you can.::_

He hoped that was enough. 

Turning back to the consoles, he clicked through each of them, trying to gauge the ship’s damages. While he wasn’t completely certain how the computers worked, he performed best under pressure. Ultra Magnus was pulling the unconscious crew on the deck to the side, where they wouldn’t be stepped on or tripped over. “Doesn’t seem like we’re being followed, for now,” Rodimus said, “but I can’t be sure that they aren’t tracking us. The hull is intact, but the wing they shot is pretty totaled from our jump. We’ll need to repair it as soon as possible.” 

Magnus nodded quietly. Though he knew that Rodimus could be serious when needed, it still pleasantly surprised him on some level to see the switch be flipped from “carefree young adult” to “responsible leader.” 

Bots slowly filed into the deck as they awoke, and it filled up quickly. Soon, the entire ship, more or less conscious, was present. Some limped in carrying their friends, some walked in on their own, awake and confused about everyone else. Rodimus gestured for them all to find a place. Ultra Magnus stood on his left side, Megatron on his right, as Rodimus himself perched on top of the control panels at the front of the deck. “Okay, roll call,” he said loudly. “Is everyone here? I’m gonna yell your name, and you just yell something back.”

One by one, the crew sounded off, sometimes with profanity. Whirl in particular had been colorful. Rodimus made a mental note to himself to be more clear next time on _what_ should be shouted, as he scrolled down the list Magnus had handed him to make sure nobody had gotten lost. Luckily, the entire crew was present, but…

Rodimus leaned in as he gave the datapad back to Magnus. “There’s an empty space right here,” he whispered, pointing to an extra line between two names. Magnus’ optics widened at the error, and he straightened as he corrected it. Rodimus reset his vocals. “Okay, now that everyone’s here, damage report. The left wing of our ship is basically scrap metal. We can still fly, but any landing we make will be a rough one at best, and there’s no way we can jump again, since the engines blew. How did they look, Megatron?”

“Bad,” came the response from his right. 

“How bad?” 

Megatron gave him a _look_. “I have no doubt in Brainstorm and Perceptor’s abilities,” he said, “but they may have their servos full with repairs.” 

Brainstorm did a fist pump from his spot in the corner. Perceptor sighed. 

“Stormy, that’s bad,” Rodimus clarified. 

“No, I know, I’ve just been wanting to upgrade the engines for a few weeks, so this is the perfect time to try it out,” Brainstorm chirped happily, pulling a datapad from his subspace and tapping away at it as he spoke. “Percy thinks none of them will work, but if the engines are dead anyways, he’s got no choice but to help me.”

“I’ll try to keep him from building a new ship,” Perceptor assured. 

“...Okay. I’m just going to move on, because I’m not sure how to respond to that,” Rodimus replied. “Here’s my question, and I want this to be a discussion everyone is involved in.” He waited a moment for the burst of whispers between crew members to quiet down, then continued. 

“Should we signal for help? No nearby planet looks to be inhabited, and we’re probably going to need help and extra materials to fix the ship. But, judging from the warship that tried to kill us, either the Decepticons in this universe are a lot angrier about Megatron defecting, or he never did, and the war is still active. Both of those options are bad for us, for multiple reasons,” he said, pointedly not looking at Megatron. 

The crew was dead silent.

“Guys?” Rodimus asked. “Hello? Floor is open for discussion…” He turned to see what everyone was staring at, and lo, the warship that had attacked them was sitting politely in the blackness of space, almost like it was waiting for him to finish. “Oh, _son of a bitch_ ,” Rodimus yelped, leaping off the control panels in his fright. Ultra Magnus caught him. “What the fuck, what the _fuck?_ When did that get there?”

“While you were rambling,” Megatron said quietly. “And we’re receiving a transmission.”

“Yeah, of course we are,” Rodimus muttered. “Well. We can’t run, we can’t fight, might as well open it up.” Megatron pressed a few buttons, and the transmission opened, projecting onto the windshield. 

Rodimus nodded. “I’m dreaming. I knew it.” 

“Hail, new friends!” said the pink mech on the other side. “I’m Tarn, of the Decepticon Friendship Division! I sincerely apologize for attacking your ship, the _Laughing Diplomat_ has auto-defense mechanisms, and I didn’t turn them off in time to call before you jumped away. Do you require repairs?”

Rodimus fell onto the floor with a _clunk_ , unconscious. Megatron didn’t look much better. “The what,” he said flatly, locked in a look of icy horror. 

The Pink Tarn gasped dramatically when his optics landed on him. “L-Lord Megatron? Why do you have the Autobots’ symbol on your chassis? Have they captured you? Do you require assistance?” As he spoke, other bots leaned in to look- Megatron barely recognized Vos and Kaon from their brightly colored paint jobs. The Pink Tarn himself was rosy reds in place of the purple and black the ‘Cons on board feared so terribly, Vos was a pleasant shade of lavender, and Kaon was a happy sunshine yellow. 

A third face that he thought he’d never see again poked up into the screen, and Ultra Magnus hit the ground beside Rodimus. Rewind screamed from where he’d been recording the entire thing atop Chromedome’s shoulders. “Dominus Ambus?!”

The mech’s optics widened. “Rewind? Is that really you?” Confused shouts began to ring throughout the deck. Megatron cut through them all with ease.

“What in the name of Primus is going on?” Megatron barked. “What kind of sick joke is this?”

“I could ask the same of you!” The Pink Tarn huffed. The crew on both ships shrank back in fear at the anger in his voice. Cyclonus looked like he was having a minor aneurysm. Most of the Scavengers had passed out as well. Swerve was swinging violently between visibly horrified and visibly delighted every few seconds.

“Okay, I need clarification,” Whirl shouted loudly. “Is everybody else seeing an Easter commercial version of the DJD on the screen, or am I hallucinating again?”

“What’s Easter?” Brainstorm asked quietly. 

“DJD?” The Pink Tarn tilted his head. 

“No, it’s real, for once we’re all in the same boat you are.” Swerve patted Whirl’s arm. Whirl’s head spun between all three as they spoke at once, looking dizzy.

“Please explain what you’re doing in this region of Decepticon space, looking like Megatron and wearing a symbol of hate on your chest, before we shoot down your ship,” The Pink Tarn demanded. “I assure you, when we try, we don’t miss.”

“As soon as you explain why you’re parading around in those ridiculous colors,” Megatron scoffed. “Who on the List would fear you when you look like _that?”_

Had he turned around, he would’ve seen most of the crew raising their servos.

“Wait, wait, everyone stop.” Brainstorm pressed his servos together and raised them to his faceplate, looking up at the screen. “Tarn, do you know who I am?” 

The Pink Tarn stared at him silently for a few seconds. Then he sat up. “Oh! Brainstorm? I didn’t recognize you with the new colors. They look good on you!” 

“Okay, that’s what I thought,” Brainstorm nodded. “Tarn, you might find this hard to believe, but we’re from another universe. We came here to escape… stuff. It’s a long story. In our universe, Autobots are the good guys, and the Decepticons… kind of went off from how they started. Most of them are evil for fun. Your gang in our universe killed other Decepticons for sport.” 

As Brainstorm spoke, Tesarus and Helex had revealed themselves, just as pastel and bright as their counterparts. Somehow, the colors weren't as reassuring as they probably meant to be, as Tesarus’ blades still looked sharp from under the rubber caps that covered them, and Helex’s oven looked polished and ready to use. The Pink Tarn looked horrified, his emotions clear even with the mask. “That can’t be true! I would never- we would never do such a thing!” Vos and Kaon nodded, optics wide. Dominus looked disgusted at the concept.

Crankcase, the last Scavenger standing, sat down heavily. “I can’t take much more of this, or I’m gonna blow a gasket,” he muttered.

A voice called from off-screen. “It’s not impossible that they’re telling the truth,” Nickel said, skating into view. She was white with reddish-pink highlights. The color swap wasn’t as shocking the sixth time, though a few people still gave considerate hums. “But jumping into a completely new universe would take considerable skill. How did you manage it?”

“Guessing and dumb luck,” Brainstorm said off-handedly, “but that’s how we do everything.” 

“Okay, I’m going to believe you for now, but I want to hear the whole story while we repair your ship,” The Pink Tarn said carefully. 

“Hold on, you’re going to believe a story this ridiculous _that_ fast?” Megatron said, surprised. 

“Why wouldn’t I? What would lying get you here, other than a few more hours of freedom until we arrest you?” The Pink Tarn chirped cheerfully. “Now, don’t move! We can dock your ship remotely.” Thin, robotic arms detached from the bottom of the ship, reaching forwards to grasp the _Lost Light_ , guiding it into a docking bay.

“That was a fast switch. Hey, do you think our Tarn would be delighted or horrified to know that he’s scarier when he’s pink?” Whirl asked in a stage-whisper to Swerve. 

“Maybe a mix of both?” Swerve shrugged, glancing at the crowd. “I’ll take bets.”

Numerous servos offered credits as bots whispered their opinions on either side.

Poor Rodimus woke up to Nickel, Ratchet and First Aid leaning over him, and his screech echoed through the Laughing Diplomat. He stood (at the protest of the three medics) and stumbled out of the medbay to the dock, where Brainstorm, Tesarus, Kaon and Nautica had set to repairing the wing. 

“Hey guys,” Rodimus waved. Nautica waved back, less affected than the others by the presence of nega-Tesarus and Kaon. “Hey, Captain! Percy’s checking the engines! Oh, and Drift’s inside, waiting for-” Drift cut her off, sprinted out of the _Lost Light_ and tackled Rodimus in a hug. “I was worried about you!” He cried, spinning around. Rodimus squawked indignantly. 

“Drift! What did we say about picking me up!”

“Sorry,” Drift said sheepishly, putting him down. “Where’s Mags and Megs?” Rodimus asked, still a little shaky on his legs. 

“Well, Ultra Magnus, Rewind and Dominus Ambus are having a conversation somewhere private, and Megatron and Tarn are talking up in the deck of… of the…” he trailed off. Rodimus gave him a questioning look, and Drift shook his head, lowering his voice. “It’s just such an awful name for a ship, Roddy. It’s bad enough that they’re the Decepticon _Friendship_ Division, but they named their ship the _Laughing Diplomat_ …” 

They both turned to look at the others. Tesarus was holding Brainstorm and Nautica up, and Kaon was carefully welding sheets of metal together using the electricity in his coils. Tesarus waved with a cheerful grin. Rodimus hesitantly waved back. Drift forced a grin and suppressed a shudder. “Hey, did Ratty clear you from the medbay?” he asked. 

Rodimus sighed as he recalled barely getting away from the three angry medics. Nickel was so _fast_. “No, and it’s only a matter of time before they catch me, so actually, let’s leave right now please.”

The Pink Tarn and Megatron were having a quiet conversation on the deck of the _Laughing Diplomat_ when Rodimus walked in, Drift right behind him. “What did I miss?” he asked. 

“According to Tarn here, this entire universe is the polar opposite of our own,” Megatron answered. “It’s actually rather interesting. Whereas in our universe, the Autobots are widely considered the ones in the right, here they’ve done countless evil deeds. Optimus Prime is a name rarely spoken. He’s become some kind of evil overlord. Like…” he paused uncomfortably for a moment, then continued, “Anyways, we entered this universe deep in Decepticon territory, so we probably won’t run into him before we get out.”

Tarn’s shoulders slumped. “Oh, are you leaving so soon? Your universe sounded so interesting!” He stopped. “Well, aside from the obvious. Did you really end the war? We kind of thought it would go on forever. All our attempts at settling the differences between the factions ended horribly. The Autobots just want all of the Decepticons eliminated, like we’re some kind of disease…” He shuddered.

“We should leave _immediately,_ before I lose what’s left of my mind,” Rodimus said firmly. “I can only handle so much of…” he gestured to the scene in front of him. “All of this. Where’s Ultra Magnus?”

“Talking to the- to Dominus Ambus.”

“Well, yeah I know that, but where?” Megatron gave him a _look_. “Let them speak in private, Rodimus. The last time he saw his brother, it wasn’t pretty.”

Tarn looked between them. “Huh?” 

Megatron spoke right over him with smooth, obvious practice. “Evidently, in this universe, Dominus defected willingly after meeting Tarn and his, uh, friendship gang.” The words seemed to pain him physically to say. Tarn made a sort of wiggle motion that disturbed Rodimus. 

“Oh, please, you’ve at least got to stay long enough to meet our Megatron! He’s coming for a meeting; we were on our way there when we found you! He would love to hear your story.”

“I don’t think I can handle more than one Megatron existing in the same universe at all, let alone the same room,” Rodimus protested, but Megatron seemed thoughtful. 

“I _would_ like to compare notes with him, learn about the war from his point of view..."

Rodimus silently sent a plea to Primus for his spark to be spared from this torment. He was, of course, ignored, so he settled for making use of what he could.

“All right, fine. But as soon as our ship’s repaired, we’re getting the hell out of here.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bet you didn't see that one coming.
> 
> For clarification, the "cyberverse" referenced in the summary and the working title is NOT the show. It's a reference to "Spider-Man: Into The Spiderverse", because I felt like it would fit where I want this fic to go, but since Cyberverse already exists, I went with a different name.
> 
> I doubt the Cyberverse show is going to come in, because honestly, I didn't really like it- so no worries if you haven't seen it!
> 
> Also, HUGE thanks to my friend Glitched_Fox for beta'ing for me!! Co is awesome and are directly responsible for why this chapter is good


	5. The Breaking of Glass- Part 3- Eventful Intermission

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our heroes try to catch a relaxing break in action, but beach party chapters are still in the far distance...

As if the chaos of the new universe wasn’t enough, the strange dreams still plagued Rodimus.

“This again,” he muttered, irritation sinking into his frame as soon as the colors started. It seemed more solid this time, the swirls like a backdrop for a larger picture. Rodimus could move here, too, could look around and speak. About time, in his opinion.

“Sooo.” He crossed his arms. “Why am I here? Can I get an explanation? Even just a bit of one?”

He was met only with silence, and somehow, it felt expectant.

“I don’t remember who you are, and I don’t know what you want,” Rodimus hissed, “so why don’t you stop tip-toeing around it and just _tell_ me? I’ve got other things to worry about than some mystery bot with an honesty deficiency!” He began to pace, almost sure the annoyed whirring of his processor was audible. 

“I can’t find any fuel for my crew, our ship’s busted, we’re getting help from some fragged-up, wannabe-kid-friendly version of the DJD, I’m meeting a brand-new Care Bears version of Megatron in a few cycles, and here I am-” he cut himself off as he paused his pacing, casting a glare to the sky. His expression softened after a moment, and he sighed, spoiler drooping in a rather resigned movement. “Talking to myself,” he finished softly.

The unknown wasn’t new to him. He’d be dealing with it for the past… however long of his life, ever since he first picked up the Matrix. A strange, recurring dream wasn’t exactly the craziest thing that he’d experienced. In fact, he doubted it even ranked anywhere near the Top 10 Weirdest Lost Light Moments (a record that Rewind was keeping, most likely).

It was still annoying, though.

He turned on his heel to continue his pacing, and promptly leapt into the air with a screech as he came face-to-face with a mech that had been standing directly behind him. So startled was Rodimus, in fact, that he jolted right out of his berth and onto the floor with a reverberating crash.

“You’ve gotta be fucking me,” he growled. “Who was _that_ supposed to be? I didn’t even get a good look…” Rodimus continued to grumble as he stood, surveying the new scuffs his unexpected stunt had left in his paint. Ah, well. He was due a turn in the washracks, anyways. He still tried to remember what he’d seen as he collected himself.

He couldn’t, really.

Just those colors. Red and orange, white and blue… what could they have meant?

There had been someone there, someone he _knew_ , but he just couldn’t remember. They had been looking at him, stern, but clinical, with good intentions, as if they cared. Not entirely unlike Ratchet, or any other medic.

Rodimus huffed as he failed to recall anymore than that (or decipher the odd way he was thinking about it), glaring at his berth as if it would come to life and explain his dreams to him. It didn’t, obviously, so he just ran a few vent cycles to compose himself, let an easy grin slide onto his face, and stepped out of his suite as if nothing had happened.

There was no time to worry about a mystery mech from a Matrix-vision or be embarrassed about falling out of berth, after all. He had a Valentine’s Day Edition Megatron to meet.

Rodimus’ crew and the DFD had set down on a nearby planet once the _Lost Light_ had been repaired. Evidently, Tarn had comm’d Megatron of the recent news and rearranged the rendezvous to… wherever they were now. Rodimus hadn’t caught the planet’s name during Tarn’s excited rambling about something or other.

It was weird, Tarn being thoughtful. Even weirder was the new Megatron in question.

Rodimus’ own Megatron, whom he mentally denoted "Normal Megatron" for his sanity's sake, had been quite obviously torn between being interested to meet Other Megatron and considering throwing himself out of the airlock. When Other Megatron arrived, in a ship identical to the _Nemesis_ , but a lighter shade of purple, he seemed to be leaning to the latter option.

Other Megatron was… well, he fit the general tone of this universe so far. He was laughing as he exited his ship, stepping onto the landing pad on the strange planet- apart from the pad itself, the planet wasn’t metal, but it was seemingly vacant of life, besides ruins such as the city they had set down in. Beside him was Starscream, grinning jovially up at Other Megatron. Soundwave was on Other Megatron’s other side, snickering.

Other Megatron offered Rodimus a wide smile and warm greeting as he approached. “Hello, Rodimus Prime. Tarn explained your situation to me. On behalf of the Decepticons, I offer whatever assistance we can give, and a warm welcome to our universe.” Rodimus nodded as they shook hands. Other Megatron’s grip was strong, but surprisingly gentle around Rodimus’ servo. He seemed very aware of his large stature, like he was used to dealing with mechs much smaller than him. 

It kind of weirded Rodimus out.

Starscream and Soundwave waved energetically to him from where they had taken station a few paces behind Other Megatron, standing at attention. Starscream was still smiling a strange, genuine grin. It creeped Rodimus out, so he turned to look away.

Other Megatron then turned to Normal Megatron and Ultra Magnus. “And I suppose this handsome mech must be, well, me,” Other Megatron laughed, clapping Normal Megatron on the shoulder. Normal Megatron sported an incoherent expression of pure existential horror. Ultra Magnus looked like he was about to evaporate into rust at any given second, and that he would see it as a blessing from Primus himself. However, somewhere deep in Rodimus’ processor, he thought the positivity was refreshing.

His EM field had subconsciously pulled in, but he felt a pulse hit it from behind him as he stepped away from the taller mechs. He turned again. Starscream hadn’t moved from his spot, but seemed much calmer. Soundwave seemed to be shifting from pede to pede. When Rodimus looked around, another pulse rolled gently over him. “Is that _you_ doing that?” he asked Soundwave.

“You seem stressed out, dude,” Soundwave replied. “Take a few vents. It’s all cool.” Waves of calm continued emanating from him. Despite Rodimus’ short bout of distrust, he couldn’t deny that he was feeling much better. No wonder Starscream suddenly seemed so chill. “Huh. Thanks.”

“No problem, my guy.” Soundwave tilted his helm ever-so-slightly. Rodimus got the impression that he was smiling. This entire universe was creeping faster over the too-weird line every time someone spoke, at this point. Shaking it off, Rodimus decided to tune back into the conversation. 

The two Megatrons had begun discussing the war and differences between the universes. Surprisingly, Ultra Magnus seemed incredibly interested in Other Megatron’s side of the story. Rodimus wondered if he was taking notes somewhere in his processor. “At first, Optimus had agreed with me, as he had with you,” Other Megatron was explaining, “but then he began to push harsher ideas onto me. He wanted change to be not only swift, but violent. I’d led a few riots in my time, but he seemed to think that murdering the Senate was the fastest way to fix it.” 

Normal Megatron looked appalled by the statement. “I don’t think I could even imagine Optimus saying that,” he murmured. “The Optimus I knew hated the very idea of murder. For him to have turned to needless violence and tyranny in such a way… it’s inconceivable to me.”

As if on cue, alarms began to blare.

Chaos was immediate. Soundwave and Starscream broke from their positions at once, sprinting away in opposite directions. Other Decepticons began swarming off Other Megatron’s ship, taking up positions and creating makeshift cover of sheets ripped up from the landing pad with practiced speed. Rodimus’ own crew was helpless in the onslaught. “What’s going on?” Rodimus asked, though Normal Megatron spoke over him at the same time, his voice taking on a Commander Tone. “What should we do?”

“Have your best shots line up in defensive positions around the perimeter,” Other Megatron answered, flicking his canon on. “And have the rest of your crew try and get your ship running. That alarm can only mean one thing, and your cybercricket there won’t last long under full fire.” 

He didn’t need to explain further. Rodimus was already calling Perceptor, but too late, as he saw the mech run out of the _Lost Light_ with Brainstorm close behind. Other members of the Rod Squad followed. Normal Megatron began barking orders, though Rodimus could see the tiny flash of discomfort in his optics. Brainstorm and Perceptor were busily setting up some strange canon by the assembling front line, probably a new invention they’d been wanting to test out anyways. Someone tossed Rodimus a gun, which he fumbled with before gripping it securely. It was a foreign model, but with laser guns, there’s usually not a lot to figure out. He glanced up to see Starscream smile reassuringly at him, before disappearing into the last of the swarm of mechs running to and fro. Other Megatron called out a few commands, and the sea finally parted. Decepticons were settling into formations and positions like they’d been forged there.

Tarn and his crew seemed to appear out of nowhere- Rodimus hadn’t even noticed that they’d left the leaders alone until their presence returned. At that moment, Rodimus really understood what the term “ _parallel_ universe” meant- because this Tarn and his crew may have behaved like sweet mechs, but they were still all walking death machines. Kaon’s coils crackled to life with a horrific sound as Helex hefted him up like a Cube. Vos transformed as he backflipped into Dominus’ waiting hands, almost too big for the beastformer. Tarn’s bubbly demeanor had iced over with cold fury, his cannons whirring to life. Starscream and Soundwave slid beside Other Megatron, carrying weapons Rodimus had never seen before. The DFD fell into formation beside them, a strange sight to behold- but Rodimus was quickly distracted by the alien contradiction as, finally, the source of the alarm made itself known.

Sailing through the clouds like wrath from Primus himself, a demented version of the Arc descended, guns already blazing with light, ready to fire. Rodimus’ spark halted in its spinning for a moment as he realized that the ship was identical to the ones he’d seen in his first vision-dream. 

“Primus help us,” he whispered as two, then six, then twelve additional battleships identical to the first broke through the atmosphere.

A voice rang over the landing pad that had so quickly become a battlefield. “Hello, Megatron,” a horrible, horrible mockery of Optimus’ voice chirped out through speakers. “And hello, new friends. Welcome to our universe, I’m sure you’ll find it quite a blast!”

Rodimus didn’t even get the time to groan at the cheesy villain line as the battleships’ cannons began to fire.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [runs in on March 31st holding this] I'M STICKING TO THE MONTHLY UPDATE SCHEDULE!!!
> 
> Sorry if this mostly reads like a short filler bit, I was trying to expand some worldbuilding, but this chapter really kept writing itself in circles. Hopefully you guys can wait for the action-packed next chapter!
> 
> EDIT: Something I realized after posting this was that SG Tarn has been kind of OOC the entire time I've been writing him, because while he's not a canon SG character, actual SG Tarn wouldn't speak for fear of accidentally using his Talent for evil.
> 
> I'm not going to edit the entire fic and make you all reread it again. I am, however, going to make sure something happens to stop him talking moving forwards- so if any of you liked his dialogue, sorry, but I have a mission


	6. The Breaking of Glass- Part 4 - As Your World Shatters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As the tension reaches a painful high, our heroes make a final attempt to escape the strange mirrored universe they find themselves in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'M TECHNICALLY A DAY LATE AND I'M SO SORRY, I FORGOT THAT THERE'S NOT AN APRIL 31ST- BUT HERE IT IS UNBETA'D JUST FOR YOU ALL

Holes were ripped through the landing pad in seconds. The flimsy cover that had been torn up was obliterated under the heavy fire. The front line hurried to return the favor- bracing themselves, they unleashed shots that seemed far too large to have come from the blasters. Perceptor and Brainstorm’s cannon fired a blast into the front ship, and Rodimus despaired as it splashed uselessly against the thing’s shields. “Aim for the cannons!” one of the Megatrons shouted. 

Rodimus looked down at his blaster, then to Soundwave and Starscream- the gun he’d been handed seemed to have a different purpose, defusing the cannon blasts from the battleships before they could hit the battlefield. He clicked it on and fired, just in time to dissipate a beam aimed for the Lost Light. His comm beeped frantically at him, and he activated a hands-free call as he pulled up the ship frequency.

::Status report!:: he demanded. Answers were numerous and instant.

::Engines at 47% power and rising,:: Nautica said.

::Navigation systems coming online. Working on shield activation now.:: Crankcase grunted.

::Our weapons are still down!:: Whirl shouted. ::I wanna shoot something!::

::The medibay is ready for use,:: First Aid sounded busy, probably preparing tools. ::Any wounded should report here immediately.::

Rodimus shot down another blast. ::How quickly can we be off the ground?::

::Engines are now at 52% power- I can’t be sure how quickly we’ll have enough for liftoff, but how would we even get out of here, Rodimus?:: Nautica asked.

::The Nav’s busted,:: Crankcase supplied. ::I can fly without it, but with these damned things in the sky and our shields down, we haven’t got a chance in the Pit of making it off this dirtball alive.::

::Thank you so much for your vote of confidence, Crankcase,:: Rodimus sighed, exasperated. ::Ultra Magnus, where did you vanish to?::

Ultra Magnus took a second to reply. ::I was investigating something on the _Laughing Diplomat_ ,:: he said. ::I believe it will come in handy.::

Rodimus’ optics widened as he turned to look. Gigantic cannons deployed from the DFD’s ship, turning slowly towards the fleet in the sky. Dominus scrambled away from where he’d taken up point on the roof, watching with surprise. “What in the Pit?” Tarn asked incredulously. “Who- what-” the rest of his sputtering was cut off as a volley of shots launched from the Laughing Diplomat, tearing through the lead ship’s shield and destroying one of the cannons.

“Nevermind, I’m cool with this,” Tarn decided. Rodimus couldn’t help but laugh.

::Thanks, Magnus!:: Brainstorm chirped as he and Perceptor reloaded their cannon. Its next shot tore clean through the hull right before the ship’s shields swirled back to life. 

::This is just like this one boss fight in Final Fantasy,:: Swerve said out of nowhere. A chorus of bots yelled at him to shut up. ::No, I’m serious! Timing shots between the big cannon and the smaller one might help make the fight quicker.::

::You’re welcome to come out here and help,:: Perceptor sighed. Swerve did not reply.

Helex turned back to look at Rodimus. “Whichever one of your guys is in our ship, tell ‘em to aim for those things in the back,” he said, pointing, “‘cause I think we’re gonna have company real soon.” Rodimus looked up. Two ships in the back of the fleet were landing, and Rodimus could see mechs already swarming towards them. 

“Don’t look so scared,” Helex snorted at his expression. “We’re here for a reason, you know.”

For a moment, Rodimus wondered what that was supposed to mean. Then Helex shifted Kaon in his hands and threw the mech into the air.

Kaon cackled with delight as he soared into the sky, electricity arcing off of him. He shouted something that was lost to the winds, but he must have been talking to his crew, because in that moment Dominus fired off a shot directly towards him. There was no time for alarm, as the moment the blast connected with Kaon’s coils as he careened through the sky, a gigantic blast of lightning crashed from the sky down onto him, directly through one of the Autobot ships, and demolishing the ground forces that had steadily been gaining on them. Rodimus gaped. 

“Is he okay?” he asked no one in particular. 

“Oh yeah, he’s fine,” Tesarus said. “He loves doing that. Says a dramatic opening improves the odds of a fight.” 

Other Megatron fired a shot into the air. “Decepticons, with me!” he cried, running forth to meet the Autobots still streaming out of the landed ships. Tarn, Tesarus and Helex were close behind, howling with fury. Soundwave and Starscream gave cover fire, deflecting shots raining down onto the advancing party with impressive accuracy. Dominus was still firing from the top of the _Laughing Diplomat_ , picking off the leading mechs on the opposing side even as the gigantic cannon fired another volley into the armada above them. Rodimus levelled a displacement blast at a rogue laser directed towards the _Lost Light_. Despite the incredibly bad odds, the Decepticons of this universe seemed accustomed to fighting entire armies off. It almost gave him hope. 

::Any updates?:: he asked as Other Megatron’s party collided with the Autobot forces.

::Engines at 60% power,:: Nautica said. ::Almost ready for liftoff, but we’re still far away from a jump.::

Crankcase spoke next. ::Navigation’s finally online. If we can get an opening, I might consider changing my mind about our inevitable doom.::

::Guess who got our guns working?:: Whirl cackled viciously. 

Rodimus grinned. ::Try not to burn through all our ammo at once, Whirl.::

Normal Megatron’s voice cut through the comm. ::We have incoming,:: he said gravely. Rodimus spared him a glance. 

::What- holy frag.::

Something had jumped out of the lead ship and was plummeting down quickly. For a moment, Rodimus wondered if it was a bomb MTO, but as it fell, he realized it was worse.

It was Optimus Prime, hurtling through the air directly towards Megatron.

“Megs, _move!”_ Rodimus cried, grabbing him by the arm and yanking. He wasn’t strong enough to really do much, but luckily, others had noticed Optimus’ approach. In a feat of impressive aim, Dominus levelled a shot at him, knocking him off of his course by a few inches and flipping him. Starscream and Soundwave assisted, blasting him backwards so he landed near the front line. 

Decepticon soldiers scrambled away, screaming in terror. Perceptor and Brainstorm glanced at their cannon. Perceptor grabbed Brainstorm’s servo and pulled him away.

The crater had cracked through the metal of the landing pad and gotten through to the dusty ground below, kicking up a cloud of dirt. The ships above them had stopped firing, allowing Rodimus to aim his gun nervously at where Optimus had fallen. “Surely he injured himself in that fall,” Megatron muttered. “Not even I would have pulled that stunt.”

As if solely to prove him wrong, the dust swirled. The Optimus Prime of this universe was horrifying. The paint job was the least of it- scars marred his armor, and his battle mask did nothing to conceal the wild glint in his optics. 

He hadn’t been injured in the slightest by the fall.

“By the Allspark,” Megatron whispered. Rodimus barely heard him. 

Memories were crashing down onto him, being thrown to the ground, a shot ripping clean through his chest, wild, angry optics glaring down at him. He started walking backwards, not even registering his own movement- but luckily, Optimus wasn’t looking at him.

“I’ve heard about you,” Optimus said to Megatron. “Bits and pieces from bots who tried to run, but I’ve heard.” He giggled, a demented sound. “You’re supposed to be evil, just like me. Do you wanna be friends?”

Megatron’s face was twisted in disgust. For a moment, he seemed at a loss for words, but he recovered quickly. “Never,” he hissed. “ _Never again_ will I be like you.”

Optimus looked absolutely crestfallen. “Oh,” he said quietly. Then he looked enraged. With a wordless shout, he charged Megatron, tackling him and sending them both flying. Rodimus scrambled backwards. 

In close quarters, their guns weren’t operational- the two warlords began trading blows, wrestling like mechanimals. Rodimus wasn’t sure if he was even supposed to step in, until one of them grunted, and sudden blooms of glowing pink began to stain their armor.

::Hey, if I just shoot them both, how much trouble will I get in?:: Whirl asked, breaking the tension almost completely.

::Please don’t shoot Megatron, I know he’s a bastard, but we can’t kill him now,:: Rodimus replied, hoping he sounded more exasperated than terrified. ::I’m trying to think of a plan.::

Megatron’s voice cut through. ::I can hear you,:: he growled. 

::Hi, can I shoot you?:: Whirl asked instantly. A gunshot spat out from the scuffle, barely missing Dominus, who yelped and ducked. At that point, the metal floor beneath them had become a pink puddle, and Normal Megatron was beginning to look a bit like Other Megatron. ::Better idea,:: Megatron huffed.

A well-timed kick launched Optimus away from Megatron, skittering them both across the ruined landing pad. Megatron stood. ::Shoot _him_ instead.::

::Roger that!:: Whirl cackled, turning the _Lost Light’s_ guns towards Optimus. It seemed that the energon staining them both belonged mostly to Megatron, though Rodimus could see a few new cracks and dents in Optimus’ armor. Whirl unleashed a round onto the demented mech, once again kicking up dust, but it didn’t seem to delay Optimus at all. 

“What a fun toy you are,” Optimus said. “But where is your anger? Why do you hold back?”

Had Megatron been holding back? It was hard to tell when anything he punched turned into a different shape. “I don’t want to hurt you,” Megatron tried. “I’ve- I’ve been trying to change, recently.”

Optimus cackled. “Then you’ve already _failed!_ Oh, but don’t worry, you can play rough with me,” he purred. “I can take it.”

::Yikes!:: Whirl said over the commlink, voicing everyone’s opinion.

“Why are you doing this?” Megatron tried. 

Optimus’ giddiness faded like a light switch. “You know the answer to that,” he responded. Once again, he sprung forwards, locking them both in combat.

::Rodimus, the engines are at 80% power,:: Nautica said. ::We’ll be able to jump soon.::

::We’re not leaving without all of our crew,:: Rodimus said instantly.

“If you won’t kill _me,_ ” Optimus was howling, “Then I’ll just kill _you!”_

Megatron shouted in pain as Optimus punched clean through his chassis, ripping the armor off and tossing it away with a spray of hot pink. Rodimus wondered if he could die from his spark skipping enough turns.

“I think you’ll find it’s not that _easy!”_ Megatron bellowed, grabbing Optimus’ head with both hands and yanking as hard as he could, planting a ped on the mech’s chest for leverage. Loud pops sounded from Optimus’ straining back strut, but he just laughed louder, digging his hand deeper.

::Whirl, I think I’m changing my mind,:: Rodimus said, leveling his own gun at Optimus. He had no clue what it would do, but it was worth a shot. ::We might need you to spray down the field like a maniac in a klik.::

::I am so ready.:: Whirl responded. ::I was _forged_ ready.::

::On my mark,:: Rodimus said, powering the blaster up.

::No, wait,:: Perceptor interrupted, surprising Rodimus. Where the hell even was that guy? ::Look, to your right. The cavalry is returning.::

Rodimus turned. Sure enough, Tarn was running back towards the landing pad at what appeared to be top speed- which, given that he was a tank, was actually moving pretty fast. “Oh, damn,” Rodimus said.

“Get your servos _off of him,_ you vile creature!” he shouted, bowling over Optimus and Megatron both, all three of them slid across the landing pad. Megatron pressed a hand over his exposed sparkchamber, wincing. Tarn had thrown Optimus to the ground, leveling his fusion cannons to the mech’s chassis. 

“It never ends with these guys,” Rodimus muttered, running to Megatron’s side. “Hey, co-captain.”

“Hello, Rodimus,” Megatron sighed. “I, ah, may… require assistance.” 

Rodimus scoffed. “Really? I couldn’t tell.” He did his best to pull Megatron up, but he was half the mech’s size. Fortunately for them both, Megatron was used to walking around half-dead. As Rodimus pushed Megatron towards the Lost Light, he felt the other stop. 

“What? What’s wrong?” Rodimus asked.

“Look at Tarn,” was all Megatron said. Rodimus turned.

  
“Your reign of terror ends here,” Tarn was snarling to Optimus. He seemed much different than the cheery mech from that morning. 

Optimus laughed. “Oh, little toy soldier, trying so hard to be useful,” he taunted. “But why so angry with _me?”_

Tarn fired his fusion cannons in response. Optimus howled in pain as the blast tore clean through his armor, burning through his interior mechanisms, then cackled. The range was close enough that half of the blast splashed back up onto Tarn, but he didn’t even wince.

Despite himself, Rodimus pressed a servo to his chassis as phantom pain reared its head. 

“You _disgust_ me!” Tarn shouted, his tone changing. Optimus stopped laughing. Tarn’s voice shook, ever so slightly, as he continued.

“You preached change at the beginning of all of this. You wanted to rip the world down and build it anew. I used to think you were right, you know.” The entire battlefield had frozen in place. Rodimus felt like his internals were being flooded with icy water. 

Optimus began to tremble as Tarn spoke, his voice lowering. “But you never really wanted to save anyone. You just wanted to play this sick game. Do you think it’s fun to rule the galaxy and murder without cause?” 

Tarn stepped closer, only whispering now. “Do you think it’s funny to watch people die? ‘Cause I think you’ll get a real kick out of this.” He reached forwards, hand nearing the exposed spark within Optimus’ chest. Time seemed to stand still. Rodimus couldn’t move, he could barely think, hypnotized by the sound of Tarn’s voice.

Finally, another voice cut through.

“Tarn!” Megatron shouted. _“Stop!”_

Like a switch, the spell was gone. Tarn lurched backwards with a gasp, head snapping to look at Megatron, then down at Optimus. The tightness around Rodimus’ spark had vanished as quickly as it had come, leaving him feeling strangely breathless. 

“Primus,” Tarn said quietly, pressing a hand over his mask. Optimus laughed at him. “You almost had me that time,” he taunted, gripping Tarn’s arm and yanking him down to the ground.

Megatron moved forwards, but Rodimus grabbed his leg, and when had he fallen to the ground? He hadn’t even noticed- “Megs, we have to get you to the medbay,” he said, scrambling to stand. “Leave them, come on.”

Megatron’s expression was pained. “I can’t. I _can’t_ leave him like that again,” he said, and Rodimus wasn’t sure which mech he was talking about. 

He pulled again, making no leeway. The other DFD mechs were making their way towards the scuffle now, Other Megatron leading them. “He’ll be fine, come _on,_ we need to go before those giant ships decide to start shooting again,” Rodimus pleaded.

A final yank persuaded Megatron to retreat into the ship, though he kept his head turned to watch until the doors closed, as if that would help save anyone.

Rodimus hated that he knew exactly how that felt.

Crew swarmed the two as soon as they stepped onto the ship. “Take Megatron to the medbay,” Rodimus ordered. Someone pulled him away, and Rodimus gladly let go. 

“Where’s Ultra Magnus? Did he get out of the _Laughing Diplomat?”_ Rodimus asked. “Right here, captain,” Magnus answered, falling into step beside him. Rodimus startled a little, having not noticed him.

“Magnus, has everyone been accounted for?” At that, Ultra Magnus looked slightly offended. He held up a data pad. “Triple checked,” he assured. “With you and Megatron, the entire crew is now present.”

Satisfied with that, he nodded and turned to the rest of the crew. “Crankcase, Nautica, how are we looking?” Rodimus asked next. 

“Ready to fly,” Nautica said. Crankcase offered a solemn thumbs up. “Primus willing, we might just have a chance,” he said. 

Rodimus grinned. “Sounds good to me.” 

He sat in his chair, leaning forwards to catch one last glimpse of the field. The DFD had pulled Tarn away. The Decepticon troops had returned to firing on the warships. Other Megatron and Optimus were locked in a vicious wrestling match, but after Tarn’s shot through Optimus’ chassis, the Decepticons were winning. The relief in his spark at that thought was the last straw he had for this universe.

“Let’s get the hell out of here,” he said. “Engines online,” Nautica said as the ship trembled slightly. “Nav systems online,” Crankcase said. “Liftoff in three, two, one…” 

The Lost Light’s engines coughed once, then the ship was off the ground, hurtling through the air. The warships fired, but the Lost Light was small enough to weave around them, breaking through the planet’s atmosphere. 

“Everyone ready?” Rodimus asked. 

Nautica nodded. Rodimus grinned. “Jump!”

Space stretched thin around them as they rocketed out of the universe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's all for the Shattered Glass arc!
> 
> ...Maybe.
> 
> Next chapter will be a break from the action, as we check in on a few other characters- Rodimus can't have all the action, after all!
> 
> Thank you to everyone who's been leaving supportive comments, I hope this chapter is to your liking! Feel free to speculate where our heroes are going next in the comments, or on tumblr! :3

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoy this adventure as much as our favorite bots, as well as my friends on the Hellhole Bar server on Discord and I will!


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